The Finest Trick-Or-Treaters
by CJS51703
Summary: Every Halloween needs some trick-or-treaters. Click here and see how Halloween Town got theirs. (Rated for the inevitable.)
1. Chapter 1

*****Boy, it's been a while since I've visited The Nightmare Before Christmas, hasn't it? Well, this is just something that popped into my mind while playing some of the songs on the piano earlier today that I pretty much had to get down. Everything NBC belongs to the great Tim Burton, the story plot belongs to me, and let's get rolling!**

 **Chapter One: On A Cold Winter Day**

Lakin, Samantha, and Brayden had been friends for as long as they could remember. Lakin and Samantha, being the only children in their neighborhood, had immediately became friends.

Brayden, who had lost his parents abruptly one evening to a drunk driver, had taken up residence in the treehouse in Lakin's backyard. Since the three had become so close, they had taken to putting their shared love of pranks together. Thus, to their immense enjoyment, they became the most notorious mischief-makers in their school and neighborhood. But, this time, they had taken to enjoying the snow day.

"Come on, slow poke!" Lakin snapped, standing below the treehouse. He was already in his snow clothes. "One second!" Brayden yelled back. A few moments later, he climbed down the ladder, fully dressed. "Alright, let's go," he said. So, they walked to the town park.

"Where's Sam? You called her, didn't you?" Brayden asked, looking around for the one missing from their trio. "Yeah. She's probably just being even more slow than you are," Lakin scoffed.

"Up here, blockheads!"

The boys looked up at the tree they were standing under to see Sam sitting on the branch there. She proceeded to push all of the snow on said branch onto Lakin and Brayden before jumping down and laughing.

"Very funny," Lakin grumbled. Brayden threw a snowball at Sam, which initiated nothing less than a war.

XxX

After a peace treaty of some sort had been verbally made, the three decided to move on to something else. "What's in that bag?" Brayden asked. Sam took her black bag off of her shoulders and opened it. "Skates. Watch this," she said.

Once geared up, she skated onto the ice on a single foot, doing a flawless figure-eight before turning to her friends. "Only a girly-girl knows how to skate like that!" Lakin called. Same gritted her teeth; she hated being referred to as a girly-girl. "You're just saying that because you can't do any better!" she retaliated.

Lakin was always ready for a challenge. "Come on, Brayden," he said. "Where are we going?" Brayden asked. He was dragged by his wrist towards a vendor who had clearly only set up because of the snow day.

"We're gonna skate," Lakin responded.

XxX

"Are you really that set on beating me?" Sam asked after seeing what measures had been taken. "Yes," Lakin said. He was the first to get is newly-rented skates on, so he was the first to attempt to skate for the first time in his young life. He was only able to make it out by gliding on two feet, though.

"I'm still winning. Hey, Brayden, you give it a shot!" Sam called.

So, Brayden flew onto the ice. He slid right past her friends and didn't stop moving until the patch of ice he was on gave way beneath him. Everyone who was also on the ice stopped to look at the sight.

Lakin, determined to save his friend, jumped into the ice hole as well. Sam looked at everyone else. "Call for her, you idiots!" she ordered.

Brayden was struggling to get anywhere at all. His already-heavy snow clothes were only getting heavier. As he ran out of oxygen, his movements slowed. Until he lost the battle for his life against the frozen waters.

Lakin swan back to the surface. "H-he's d-d-dead," he declared, his teeth chattering. He struggled to find the strength to get out of the waters as the cold he'd been exposed to began to make his body shut down.

Sam grabbed him tightly. "Don't you dare die on me too, you idiot!" she screamed. But, her words were in vain. Lakin started coughing and hacking before he went limp and fell into his final rest. Sam didn't have to check for a pulse to know that he was gone. She had lost her only friends in a single night. In silence, she pushed past the people who'd surrounded the scene.

As she walked home, for the first time in her life, she didn't even care that she was crying.

 *****If you argue with me that Lakin isn't a name, then let me tell you that I actually know a guy named Lakin. Anyways, leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you in the next one! Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

*****Fair warning: this chapter is gonna be just as heavy as the last, but it'll get better, I promise. It'll also be shorter, but that's not quite as prominent as the earlier message. Anyways, the cool things belong to Tim Burton, the other things belong to me, and let's get to it!**

 **Chapter Two: The Remainder**

The funerals had been within twenty-four hours of each other. At this point in time, they had both been two weeks in the past. Sam, however, was still quite affected. _She_ was the one who'd taunted Lakin into coming onto the ice. _She_ was the one who had yelled for Brayden to come out there as well. And all she had done in the vain effort to save her friends was yell at the people around to call for help. Then, she stood there and did nothing.

The guilt and thoughts of what she could've done differently to save her friends were becoming more and more unbearable with each passing day. She was losing sleep. Losing weight. Losing her absolute mind. At last, she just gave up. There was no way she could've on like this. Not with this level of guilt.

Every day after school, she was left alone for about two hours before one of both of her parents came home from work. Naturally, that was the perfect time to do it.

Sam had just finished writing a note to explain what she'd done and why she'd done it. Once she was done, she read it back to herself aloud:

 _Mom and Dad,_

 _I have been overcome by guilt. Lakin and Brayden's deaths were my fault and no one else's. They're idiots, but they're my idiots. And I'm going after them._

 _-Sam_

That was good enough. She put the note on the nearby counter. Time to do what she'd planned to do.

"Three of a kind," she recalled, grabbing a fork from the drawer nearby.

"Birds of a feather." She went over to a power outlet.

It took a moment to aim properly and brace herself. After she had prepared, she thrust the fork into the electric socket. Thousands of volts of electricity violently coursed through her system all at once.

 _Now and forever!_

 *****I warned you. But, like I said, things won't be so depressing in the next few chapters. Anyways, be sure to leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you in the next one! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

*****Good news! This chapter's not as heavy as the past two. Which is a relief for anyone in the future who reads through the entire story, which has such short chapters that you could probably pull that off in one go. OH WELL! Anyways, TNBC goes to Tim Burton, the story plot goes to me, and let's jump right in!**

 **Chapter Three: Into The Woods**

Sam couldn't move for the first few moments after waking up. At last, she could sit up. Around her were several dead trees. Through them shone a sun that resembled...a pumpkin? Weird. Sam stood up and stretch a little before she looked around. "Is this what hell looks like?" she asked no one in particular.

"No, I think they have fire down there."

She was startled by the second voice. Still, she turned around to see who was there. It was Brayden. He had pastel-blue skin and was wearing a skeleton costume. "I've never seen a fat skeleton before," Sam remarked.

"That's what I said," Lakin agreed, as he had walked over with his younger buddy. He had milky-white skin and was wearing a devil costume. "Isn't the phrase supposed to be a _handsome_ devil?" Same asked "Shut up, green girl. You have no room to talk," Lakin retaliated.

Sam looked down at herself. She now had murky-green skin and was wearing a purple witch costume. She sighed, brushing off the insult. "Whatever. Let's just go see what we can find," she said.

"Why do you get to decide what we do?" Brayden asked.

"Because I'm the oldest and I'm in charge!" Sam yelled.

So, off they went wandering.

XxX

The three children didn't know how much time passed. All of the dead trees looked identical. There were no landmarks or distinguishing features to remember where one had been or was at. One could go insane.

At last, however, there was a new feature. The three children ran to it. It was a circle of particularly-thick trees that was too perfectly arranged to be a natural coincidence The trio of troublemakers went to the center of the circle.

"What even are these things?" Brayden asked. "How are we supposed to know?" Lakin asked, whapping him of the back of the head.

"Do you think they have something to do with the seven holidays? I mean, there's a heart, a clover, an Easter egg, a fire cracker, a jack-o-lantern, a turkey, and a Christmas tree. All of which have to do with a different holiday," Sam reasoned. "If that's the case, then I'm going to the Halloween one," Lakin decided.

He went to the tree with the jack-o-lantern on it. But, the nose was a knob of some sort. Lakin turned it and opened up a door of some sort. He looked down into the dark abyss that was below. "Hey, guys, came look at this," he said.

Sam and Brayden came and looked. "What do you think's down there?" Brayden asked. "I don't know, but that's what Sam is about to find out for the three of us" Lakin said. Before Sam could get a word out, she was pushed into the cavern under the tree. Several seconds passed, and there was no sound of her at all.

"We might as well join her," Lakin said. He let himself fall down the cavern.

Brayden admittedly didn't want to. But, it seemed he had no other choice. So, down the tree he went.

 *****And that would be that! Trust me, more will pick up in chapter four. Anyways, leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

*****Hello, everyone! I am back with yet another installment to whatever this madness happens to be. TNBC belongs to Tim Burton, the story belongs to yours truly, and let's begin!**

 **Chapter Four: This, Our Town Of Halloween**

A dog pile was formed. "Get off of me!" Lakin snapped, bucking Brayden off of his back. "You think you got troubles?!" Sam yelled. She rolled out from under Lakin.

They all stood up and looked at what was in front of them. "Halloween Town," Brayden read. "I was right!" Sam said proudly. "Whatever. Let's go," Lakin said.

And, they went beyond the sign.

XxX

The town was what was expected and more. The jagged and gloomy architecture already set the mood. Milling about were witches, vampires, zombies, werewolves, and so many other things.

"This is awesome!" Brayden said excitedly. "Do you think there's any other kids around here?" Sam asked, perusing the crowd. "I dunno. But if this is Halloween Town, then I have no doubt we're cool to make trouble," Lakin said. Now, that got Sam and Brayden excited.

They were then passed by an extremely tall and spindly skeleton man in a pinstriped suit who had a much more small and stout man in a suit as well trailing behind and rambling. But, neither of them walked too far before the skeleton stopped. He turned on his heel and went towards Sam, Lakin, and Brayden. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I've see you three around Halloween Town before. Are you new?" he asked. He was evidently awfully polite to random strangers.

"Yep. Me and these two idiots fell down a tree to get here," Sam explained briefly.

"Well, then. I'm Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween Town. And this is the Mayor," Jack introduced. The Mayor just looked at the three children. "So why is there a king and a mayor of Halloween Town?" Brayden asked. "It's just been a tradition for as far back as my memory reaches," Jack said.

Brayden was still confused.

"We really should get back to work. There are only 213 days until next Halloween," the Mayor urged. His head had done a one-eighty from its earlier happy face to its sad face, which was currently active. "One moment. Do you three have a place to go?" Jack asked. "Nope," Lakin confirmed. "Then it's settled. Until you three are under proper care of someone else, you're staying with me at my house. Come on," Jack said. "That was easy," Sam said under her breath.

"But what about the plans?" the Mayor prodded. Jack gave him a stern look. "I'll get back to them. Right now, I have something else to be concerned with," he said. That froze the Mayor up completely. Jack lead the trio of children towards his house. A few minutes in, he turned to face them. "It's ridiculous that I forgot to ask such a simple question. But what are your names?" he asked.

Lakin, Sam, and Brayden looked at each other. They had new bodies. There were in a new place. They were given a new life. And there was one thing left to change.

"Lock."

"Shock.

"Barrel."

XxX

It was no surprise that Jack's house was the biggest in town. He _was_ the king, after all. He lead the way up the stairs and unlocked the door inside. Lakin, Sam, and Brayden-now to be forever known as Lock, Shock, and Barrel-immediately looked in three different directions upon going inside. They heard a dog's barking out of nowhere. But it was soon explained with the arrival of a small floating ghost dog with a glowing red nose.

"Oh! And this is my dog, Zero," Jack said. Zero started sniffing the three guests before he finally stopped which seemed to be a sign of approval. "This was certainly sudden, so I'll have to put one of you in the guest room and the remaining two in the living room to sleep until I can get something arranged," Jack said. He looked between the three. "Shock, you get the bedroom. Lock and Barrel, you get the living room," he decided.

"Why does she get to be in the guest room?" Lock asked. "Yeah, why?" Barrel agreed. "Calm down, you two. It's not going to be long. Now, before the Mayor gets too worked up, I've got to go back to work. You three stay here, and I'll be back later this evening," Jack promised. Then, he was out the door.

"I hope it's not going to be long," Lock muttered. "Ah, shut up," Shock said. "This is much better than the treehouse I used to live in," Barrel remarked.

Lock and Shock looked at him, and then each other. They were silent for several moments. "Yeah," they said at once.

 *****Alright, that about wraps it up for right now. Be sure to leave a review on the way out and I'll see you in the next one! Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

*****Hello, my lovely friends! We should just be movin' right along in this story to something good. So, the characters belong to Tim Burton, the story belongs to me, and let's get going!**

 **Chapter Five: The Treehouse In The Graveyard**

The days in Halloween Town were a vast improvement to the days in the last life. This was the unanimous conclusion if one were to ask Lock, Shock, and Barrel where they would rather have been.

They, being really the only kids in town, were given a single united title The trick-or-treaters. And the three children were perfectly fine with that title. They didn't have to go to school. They could pull their pranks day in and day out without getting in trouble as long as the pranks didn't physically harm anyone. No one hated them anymore. Yes, their new lives were good ones.

Well...except for one thing.

And that thing was Jack. His house was nice and he was a kind person, yes. The only thing that made him the bad aspect of living in Halloween Town was all of the rules that he kept.

Every day, Lock, Shock, and Barrel would each receive at least one lecture about some sort of broken rule. Jack insisted that it was for their own protection. The children insisted that it was to annoy the ever-loving crap out of them.

At last, they had to branch out. Jack had long since left for work for the day. So that left Lock, Shock, and Barrel alone for at least a few hours. That was the perfect time.

"Let's go, you idiots," Shock said to her only two friends "We're not the idiots here. But yeah, right behind you," Lock agreed. "Me too," Barrel chimed in.

And, out the doors of the Skellington Manor they went.

XxX

They had been roaming for a while all over the town. Eventually, they wandered on past the outskirts of town. That took them to a big-no, to a _massive_ graveyard. There was one thing they noticed.

It was that every tombstone had the names (or rather, the full names in the previous lives) of every citizen of Halloween Town. Lock and Shock ran over to the biggest one to see if their created logic held true. Sure enough, there was the name:

 _Jack Sweeney_

"Yeah, I'm glad he changed his last name," Shock remarked upon reading the tombstone. Lock looked at the date of birth of death. "Fake last name or not, if the year of death is when he first came here, then he has been here for a long time," he pointed out. Shock looked at it and nodded. "You're right, he is an old man. Granted, I always knew that he was, but this just further proves my point," she said.

"Hey, guys! Come look!" Barrel called out from a distance. Lock and Shock went over to him. He was looking at three plaques on the ground that were perfectly arranged in a line. "I found our names!" he said. As expected, each plaque had one of their names on it:

 _Lakin Sweet_

 _Samantha Snyder_

 _Brayden Walker_

"They must get bigger over time or something," Shock said. "Check out what I also found!" Barrel added on. He went off further and to a structure rather than a tombstone this time.

It was a rickety old treehouse that had been found. There was a cage attached to a rope that lead up to said treehouse that must've been an elevator of sorts. "It's like my old treehouse! Well, without the elevator it does. Come on, you guys!" Barrel said. So, he ran towards the cage elevator and stepped inside. He held open the door.

Lock and Shock looked at each other for a moment. Then, they went to the elevator and got in.

XxX

The only things in the treehouse were a gaping hole in the wall with a tube wrapped around it to make it look like an entry of sorts. And there was a bathtub sitting in front of it. It stood up on the small legs that were on its four corners.

"I've seen a lot of weird things in this life and the last... but this one is certainly a first," Shock remarked. "You're telling me. But I think it's pretty cool," Lock semi-agreed. "I never said it wasn't cool, stupid," Shock said.

Barrel climbed into the bath tub, using it to lift himself to where he was eye-level to the hole in the wall. "What do you guys think is down there?" he asked. "Well, the last time we fell down a dark hole, things turned out pretty well. Let's keep the streak alive," Shock said. She shoved Barrel out of the way and got her retribution by throwing Lock down instead. There was a loud _THUD!_ noise after a few seconds.

"Well, it's not as far down as the last one was," Shock stated. Before Barrel could respond, both children heard something from the destination the hole in the wall lead to. There was a sort of jazzy music playing faintly. A booming voice demanded, "And why are you in my lair, little man?" Lock's response was a simple yet very loud, "Uh, you guys?"

Shock and Barrel just looked at each other for a moment in shock at the change of events. Determined to keep their friend at least somewhat safe, Shock jumped down the tunnel with Barrel following closely behind.

 *****Let me explain the names. Lakin Sweet, Samantha Snyder, and Brayden Walker are actually people I know. As for Jack's last name? I was trying to think of something decent that started with an S. I considered my last name (Yeah, it starts with S) but I veered away from that. Then, Sweeney Todd popped into my head and I had to go with that. Anyways, be sure to leave a review on the way out and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!**


	6. Chapter 6

*****Well, my friends. This is the final chapter. So let's jump right in, eh? Anyways, the good stuff belongs to Tim Burton, the story plot belongs to me, and let's begin!**

 **Chapter Six: The Boogie Man**

It was a rare thing to see Lock scared. But now, he was backed against this lair that looked to be a twisted, black-lit casino with a look of utmost terror across his features. Shock and Barrel went over to him. "What's up with you?" Barrel asked. "Turn. Around," Lock said through clenched teeth. So, Shock and Barrel turned around.

They saw a giant sack monster who appeared green in color because of the black-lights in the area. The sack monster was singing happily to himself as he mixed some kind of liquid in a large sort of cauldron, clearly gleeful. "Oh," Shock said simply.

After a moment, the sack monster turned to face the three trick-or-treaters. "Well, well, well. What have we here? Does the little devil boy have some friends?" he asked. Barrel nodded, earning him a whap to the back of the head from Shock. She turned back to the monster in front of her group of friends.

"Who even are you?" she asked. "If you must know, princess," the sack monster began, noticing Shock's annoyance at the nickname, "I am Oogie Boogie. You ever heard of the Boogie Man? You're looking at him!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel looked at each other for a few moments. They had been told stories of the Boogie Man in the past. About how he would hide under the bed or in the closet. But they had never and would never had imagined him to be this... _thing_ standing before them. "Now, what are your names?" Oogie asked.

"Lock."

"Shock."

"Barrel."

Each child said their own names. Oogie nodded. "Well, it's a good thing that my stew could use three little intruding brats for a little extra spice. Now... how about we go with the smallest one first?" he asked. He picked up Barrel by the back of his shirt.

"Wait, wait!" Lock yelled. "Don't eat him!" Shock agreed. Oogie stopped in what he was doing. "What would you do to save your little friend?" he tested. "Anything!" Lock and Shock said in perfect sync. "We're pretty much all that we have!" Barrel added on. He was dropped onto the ground. So, he went back over to his only friends.

"I'm a real gamblin' man, you three. So let's make a deal," Oogie offered. "And that deal is?" Lock prodded.

"If you will do anything to save your skins, then you will do this. You will be my henchmen and do anything that I tell you to do. Anything and everything that I tell you to do. In exchange, you three can live in this treehouse. The surface part of it. But if you take a _single step_ out of line of my orders, you will be my dinner. As long as you do what I tell you two, however, then you can do whatever. I don't care. Now, what do you three say?" Oogie asked.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel formed a huddle. "So our options are live with a ton of rules under Jack..." Lock began. "...or no rules if we listen to Oogie," Barrel finished. The three looked at each other for a few moments and nodding at each other, as if having a silent conversation.

"I'm not a patient monster," Oogie said. The trick-or-treating trio broke their huddle. "We're in!" they all agreed in sync with one another. "Perfect. Now, go get me some bugs," Oogie ordered.

So Lock, Shock, and Barrel went off to do the task that was bound to be the first of many.

XxX

After getting and giving over a sufficient supply of bugs, the children settled into their treehouse. "Well," Shock said to her two friends, "this is a new beginning." The boys nodded.

"How about as Boogie's Boys?" Barrel suggested. "You came up with that?" Lock asked. "Just now, yeah," Barrel confirmed. Lock and Shock looked at each other as they thought about the proposed title. "As Boogie's Boys," the agreed at last. Barrel was proud that his idea had been accepted.

And, just as Shock had said, this was indeed a new beginning

 **The End**

 *****And there you have it! My origin story of the terrible trio. I understand that this wasn't too good of an ending, but it was the only way I could think of to wrap it up properly. Anyways, leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you in the next one! Bye!**


End file.
